My name is Del Cotton and I'm the Managing Director of Hireaband.co.uk - we've been in business now since 1999 and back then I had to make sure I answered the phone before my toddler Rachel beat me to it - otherwise my customers would have had a long chat about the Teletubbies. This can be quite embarrasing when trying to give the impression of a large, dynamic entertainment agency.
Back in 1999 I spent the weekends playing in my band and the weekdays looking after Rachel. My wife, Lisa, was a senior social worker and she was the one thing all full time musicians need, a bread winner!
We set up the business because I was in the fortunate position of having to turn away bookings because my diary was full. At first I'd simply pass on the phone numbers of other musicians I knew in the hope that they'd be available.
I would get four or five enquiries every day and happily recommended other bands - but I would get so many customers coming back to me complaining that the band I'd recommended hadn't returned their calls or were also already booked etc that it was becoming a nightmare.
Eventually (I'm not that bright) it occurred to me that I was doing the work of an unpaid agent. I also realised that there was an opportunity staring me in the face. Why not set up an agency, represent some of the good bands I knew and make some commission at the same time?
So Hireaband was born at 3am one Thursday morning when I sat bolt upright in bed, stumbled downstairs to my ancient computer and checked if the domain name "hireaband" was available. To my astonishment it was and I became the proud owner of one of the best web site addresses in the business - I think it cost me £9.95 including VAT!
The next thing I had to do was attract more bands to have me represent them - and to pay me some commission whenever I arranged a booking for them. Not easy when you have no track record and you're the smallest agency in the world! So my roster then consisted of around half a dozen bands, all of whom I'd either played in or with in some capacity or another and all of whom were based in Ayrshire (the finest county in Scotland.)
The good news was that because I was only recommending bands I knew to be good, my customers were happy. This lead to more bookings which meant the bands were happy (perhaps happy is too strong a word), let's say more prepared to pay me a commission for finding and managing their bookings.
As the bands on my books got busier, other bands started contacting me, hoping I could do the same for them. I'd go see them in action and if I thought I could get them bookings and that they would make my customers happy we were in business.
Right from the start I realised that people could and would find bands direct - either in the local paper or the Yellow Pages or by word of mouth - so I had to provide a service that would get them the best bands at the same price they'd pay if they booked direct - after all I was providing a service to the bands in getting them bookings - why should the person booking them pay a premium just to book through me. So to this day, you'll never pay more to hire a band through us than you would to hire direct.
As well as competitive pricing, I was able to offer expert advice to my customers, issue proper paperwork, make all the checks and arrangements and provide the back up and peace of mind that only booking through a reputable agent brings. All this plus the chance to talk to my 2 year old about The Teletubbies - what more could you ask for?
Now, twelve years later we have begun to succesfully franchise our business, with our first office opening in Reading in January 2012 and further offices providing the same high level of service opening throughout the coming months. Together, we represent hundreds of bands, magicians, DJ's and entertainers accross the UK - we make thousands of bookings every year and we have a reputation for fairness with the acts we work for and for excellent service to our customers.
To those of you who booked your entertainment from us all those years ago - thank you for your support and to those bands we worked with back then (and some are still with us) we couldn't have done it without you. Rachel is 13 now! Sophie came along, she's 8. Lisa left social work and is now the head of wedding bookings; but if you call the office there's still the chance you'll hear Paddy the office dog barking at the postman - some things never change.
We have the same attitude today as we had back then. As the company expands, we're working on providing you with local expertise, no matter where you are in The UK - with the same friendly approach, the same quality control and the same "can do" attitude. We just have a nicer web site, lots more choice and a few awards under our belts.
Here's the corporate bit;
The rapid growth of the Company led to our incorporation as hireaband Limited in June 2002. We are also members of The Agent’s Association (Great Britain) which binds us to an ethical standard of trading.
Our founder and Managing Director, Del Cotton, is our corporate and private entertainment specialist. His twenty years in the industry have given us an enviable reputation as providers of entertainment solutions for all kinds of events. His attention to detail and obsession with client satisfaction along with an understanding of the needs of entertainers from any field are essential to our thriving business.
Wedding consultant and Company Director, Lisa Cotton, has an intimate knowledge of the business and as her title suggests is our in-house wedding entertainment expert. Lisa handles up to 500 live wedding enquiries at any one time and is responsible for our astonishing growth in this important sector.
Nicola Bell is our website co-ordinator and IT professional. Previous experience in customer services and sales helps Nicola with selling wedding and corporate entertainment. As a university graduate, she is essential to the marketing of the company; maintaining and updating our massive and informative website, keeping everyone informed of our entertainers and with what's happening here at Hireaband.
Heather Stewart is a fully qualified Business Administrator and looks after the day to day running of the Hireaband office. Her pleasant and efficient manner ensures a prompt response to enquiries from clients and entertainers alike.
Experienced entertainment agent Karen Robertson, has a superb track record in providing fabulous entertainment for our clients. Karen has a thorough knowledge of the very best entertainment available throughout the UK. Every client, no matter what their requirements, can call on this experienced and friendly member of the hireaband team. Karen enjoyed the experience of hiring her wedding band through us so much that she joined the company!
With offices in West Kilbride near Glasgow a satellite office in Edinburgh and with plans to begin opening local offices throughout the UK in 2011, we are ideally placed to cater for the entertainment needs of our clients throughout the country.
Our acts are sourced from all over the UK, although we endeavour to use local talent wherever possible.
Keep up to date with all that's happening at hireaband, get advance info on new acts and generally get an agents eye view of the entertainment scene.
